


Drawings

by teej_318



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Boys Hugging, Canon Compliant, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mike's binder of Will's drawings, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Will's drawings, boys cuddling, post season one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-07
Updated: 2019-09-07
Packaged: 2020-10-11 13:26:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,092
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20546891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teej_318/pseuds/teej_318
Summary: Will learns just how much all of his drawings mean to Mike.





	Drawings

Mike reached into his pocket, desperate for the distraction his most prized possession would provide for him. The events of the evening were swimming quickly through his mind. But he was surprised that there was one thing in particular his brain was honing in on: the kiss he had shared with Eleven shortly before the bad men and the Demogorgan had arrived. Mike had no clue what that kiss had meant. He felt that it had been a heat of the moment kind of thing, something he felt obligated to do. But, he knew deep in his heart that he didn’t feel romantic attraction to the mysterious girl. His feelings were intense, of that he was certain, but they didn’t amount to love.

Mike shook his head slightly as he unfolded the piece of paper that had been in his pocket. It was the oldest drawing of Will’s that Mike had. Will had drawn the two of them on the playground together shortly after Mike had asked Will to be his friend on the first day of kindergarten. On top of the picture, Will had written “My best friend forever: Mike” and signed his name next to it. Will had given Mike the drawing at the end of the day, and Mike had held onto it ever since.

When Will went missing the week before, Mike immediately grabbed this drawing from his binder collection of Will’s drawings. He kept it with him at all times, with the drawing acting as something of a good luck charm wherever he went while he and the rest of The Party searched for Will. Tonight, he held the drawing a little tighter, relief spreading through his whole body at knowing that his best friend, his whole world, was safe and was going to be all right. 

After staring at the drawing for several moments with a small smile on his face, Mike folded it again and held it close to his chest, right above his heart. He didn’t put it away until Jonathan came back into the waiting room and nodded at him, signaling that Will was awake and that the boys could go and visit him. Mike hurriedly put the paper back into his pocket and yelled for Dustin and Lucas to wake up, leading them out of the waiting room and to Will’s hospital room. 

* * *

_ Three weeks later _

Mike barreled to the front door when he heard knocking. It had been three weeks since the events of the Upside Down, and after much persuasion from both Mike and Will, Joyce had finally agreed to let the boys have a sleepover at the Wheeler house, so long as Will promised to call her before he went to bed and when he woke up in the morning. 

Mike practically threw the door open, and his face lit up even more than it already was when he saw Will and Joyce in the doorway.

“Hi Will!” Mike exclaimed, throwing his arms around Will in a bone-crushing hug.

“Hi, Mikey!” Will squeaked back, taken aback by Mike’s gesture, but thrilled nonetheless. “I’m really excited for our sleepover!”

“Yeah, me too,” Mike said happily, looking at up Joyce and beaming at her. “Hi, Mrs. Byers! Thanks for letting him come!”

Joyce smiled warmly at him.

“I think you two have been separated long enough,” she said before she looked at Will seriously. “Now, you know what to do if you have any bad dreams, right, honey?”

“Mom, I’m gonna be fine,” Will said, trying his best not to sound annoyed.

“It’s okay if you’re not, you know,” Joyce started to say before Mike cut her off.

“He’ll be okay here, Mrs. Byers. I’ll be here all night with him and I’ll stay up all night with him if I have to.”

Will blushed profusely at Mike’s declaration, but Mike pretended not to notice. Joyce’s facial expression softened as she considered Mike’s words. She instinctively knew, now, that she had made the right choice in trusting Mike to be alone with Will. If there was anyone besides Joyce herself and Jonathan who could care for Will if he had one of his nightmares, she knew it was Mike.

“Okay, Mike. Thank you very much. You two have a good time tonight, all right?”

“We will, Mrs. Byers.”

“I love you, honey,” Joyce said, smiling at Will..

“I love you too,” Will said, his face reddening again as Joyce gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Will waved at Joyce as she walked away before he turned around and followed Mike into the house. Mike shut the door behind Will.

“Thanks for saying that,” Will said. “I don’t think she really wanted me to come over by myself, but you saying that you’d stay up all night calmed her down, I think.”

“I meant it, Will,” said Mike in a serious tone. “I’ll stay up with you all night if I have to. I don’t care, as long as I get to be with you.”

Will blushed.

“Thanks, Mikey.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Willie. That’s what friends are for. Now, come on, we gotta go downstairs and start planning out the next campaign!”

Will smiled as he followed Mike through the living and down into the basement, waving at Mrs. Wheeler and saying “hello” to her as she stood in the kitchen making dinner. The table that The Party always used whenever playing a campaign was filled with Mike’s D&D books and his binders of notes for his previous campaigns, along with Will’s concept drawings for the characters featured in the campaigns. Mike and Will sat down at the table, and Mike opened up one of his binders, scanning the pages for his notes.

“Oh!” Will exclaimed once his backpack was off his shoulders. “Before I forget, I wanted to give you this.”

Mike looked up as Will reached into his backpack and pulled out a piece of paper and slid it across the table. Mike picked up the paper and felt a smile grow on his face. It was a picture of The Party as their D&D characters that was much more detailed than the previous drawing Will had drawn last year. Mike was especially happy to see that his dungeon master character and Will’s Will The Wise wizard were standing next to each other, beaming up at him in the drawing.

“Do you like it?” Will asked in a small voice. 

“I love it, Will, thank you. It looks like I have a new drawing to hang up on the wall of fame!”

Will watched as Mike stood up and walked over to the wall where several of Will’s other drawings were hung. Mike carefully took down the picture of The Party from the previous year and hung up Will’s latest drawing in its place. Mike carried the old drawing back to the table and set it down next to his campaign book.

“I’ll be right back,” Mike said, hurrying up the stairs and through the basement door before Will could say anything in response. Will waited for about two minutes until Mike returned with another binder, one that Will didn’t recognize. Mike set the binder down and opened it, placing the drawing that had been on the wall into the binder.

“What’s in that binder?” Will asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Mike hesitated before he grinned at Will and slid the binder closer to his best friend. Will looked down and his eyes widened as he realized it was a binder of all of his old drawings that used to hang in Mike’s basement. In addition, there were drawings that Will had barely remembered giving to Mike, mostly of the two of them doing things together like playing  _ Star Wars _ or working on the latest campaign.

When Will looked up at Mike, he could feel tears swimming in his eyes while Mike smiled warmly at him.

“You kept all of these?” Will asked in a shaky voice.

“Of course I did,” Mike replied quietly. “You’re my best friend, Will. I wasn’t just gonna throw away all of your drawings. I hoarded them in my closet for a while, but when the pile started to get big, I asked Mom for a binder so I could keep them all looking nice.”

Mike was blushing slightly and looked away as if in shame. Will reached over and placed one of his hands on Mike’s wrist. Mike glanced up at Will nervously.

“That’s really nice of you, Mike,” Will said.

“They reminded me of you,” Mike said in a suddenly tense voice.

Will frowned.

“What do you mean?”

“When you were ...when you were gone,” Mike said, looking at Will nervously. Will swallowed but nodded at Mike, inviting him to continue. “That first night after we found Eleven and I made sure she was safe in the basement, I went upstairs to go to bed, but I couldn’t sleep. I just kept thinking about you and worrying that you were hurt. And then I looked over at my desk and I saw this binder. I grabbed it and put it on the other side of my bed, and I was finally able to fall asleep. I slept with that binder next to me that whole week until we found you again. It was the only way that I could fall asleep. It was like a part of you was with me even though you weren’t here.”

“Oh, Mikey,” Will said as tears started falling down his face and he laughed lightly. “Stop making me cry.”

Mike chuckled.

“If that made you cry, then this certainly will. Turn the page.”

Will wiped away the tears as he turned the page. The next drawing was the one from the first day of kindergarten where Will had written “My best friend forever: Mike” at the top. Will frowned when he noticed the drawing had some creases in it. Will looked up at Mike, who seemed to be anticipating Will asking him about it.

“I kept that one with me the whole time you were gone,” Mike explained. “I usually kept it in my pocket, but when I was wearing my jacket, I would put it in the pocket that’s right above my heart. It was my way of telling myself that you were still out there, and to never give up on you, even after they found your...your...your body.” 

At this, Mike dissolved into tears as the memories of that night washed over him. Will started crying too, and scooted over so he could hug Mike. Will held the older boy in his arms tightly as they both cried and tried to comfort one another. It was several moments before they calmed down and started to breathe evenly again. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, Will,” Mike said. “That night was just so horrible. I thought you were dead. I didn’t want to believe it, but I couldn’t help it when I saw them pull that body out of the water and I saw your vest. I thought that I was gonna die too. But then El was playing with my walkie talkie, and she made it so I could hear you singing and then I  _ knew _ , Will. I  _ knew _ you were still alive, and that made me never give up hope. And that’s why I kept that drawing with me at all times when we looked for you: to remind me that you were still out there.”

Mike pulled Will into another hug and held him tightly. Will was taken aback by this, but felt himself melt into Mike’s embrace, and he held Mike just as tightly. 

“I don’t ever want to lose you again, Will,” Mike said. “You’re my best friend and I can’t live without you. No matter what it takes, I’ll always make sure that you’re safe. I promise.”

“Thank you, Mikey,” Will whispered back. 

Later that evening after the boys had eaten dinner, they returned to the basement and sat down together on the couch to watch  _ Star Wars _ . When the movie started to play, Mike scooted closer to Will so that their bodies were touching, and he silently held out his hand. Will smiled at him and grabbed onto Mike’s hand, lacing their fingers together, and enjoying the warmth of Mike holding his hand. They turned back to face the TV before Will rested his head on Mike’s shoulder.

“Best friends forever, Mikey,” Will whispered.

Mike sighed contently. 

“Best friends forever, Willie.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I have my friend [@hipwillbyers](https://twitter.com/HipWillByers) to thank for giving me the idea for this little one-shot. I hope he and the rest of you dear readers enjoyed it!
> 
> Come yell at/follow me on Tumblr: [@wackywriterwhowriteswhenever](http://wackywriterwhowriteswhenever.tumblr.com)
> 
> You can also follow me [on Twitter](http://twitter.com/_tj_rigg) but just know that I'm super political on there, so don't follow me if you don't like politics.


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